I got up in such a hurry that I knocked my chair over. Everyone in the library looked at me at once.

I didn't even bother apologizing as I rushed out of the library while calling Leanna on the phone.

"Leanna? Do you have time in the afternoon? I'd like to meet you for coffee."

When we met at the cafe, and she found out that I was just asking her to accompany me to get a full-body checkup, she couldn't help chuckling out loud.

"Why did you suddenly think about getting a medical checkup? Are you feeling sick?"

I made up an excuse and said, "It's for some college event. I'm too afraid to go on my own, Leanna. Can't you please come along with me?"

She stared at me a little suspiciously. "Really?"

I tried to make myself look as sincere as possible. "Really. And maybe you could also get one since you're already there? Just… Just think of it as a premarital checkup. You're marrying Gram soon, aren't you?"

Leanna's face turned red. She pursed her lips and lightly chided, "How could you—"

Just then, her phone rang. It was Graham.

"Where are you?"

"Having coffee with Gwyn."

There was a short pause on the other end of the line before he said, "Come back soon."

After hanging up, Leanna chuckled slightly and called him clingy.

The corners of my lips tugged upward. Then, I excused myself, saying I had class and that I would meet her again on the weekend for the medical checkup.

I'd only just reached the campus entrance when I saw Graham's car parked by the gate. He got out, grabbed me by my arm, and dragged me into a corner.

Before I'd even managed to get a sense of what was happening, he'd already flung me off. I lost my balance and stumbled, falling to the ground on all fours.

A sharp sting flared in my knees and elbows. I looked down and saw that I'd scraped them on the ground, and blood was seeping out of the wounds.

Graham looked down at me, his eyes as cold as ice.

"I'm warning you, Gwyneth Rowland. Stay away from Leanna if you know what's best for you. Don't you dare say or do anything that you shouldn't. And keep your mouth shut."

I braced my arm against the ground and got up, my voice shaky. "I never did. I just asked her to come to a medical checkup with me."

He froze. "Are you sick?"

He seemed to have blurted that out instinctively.

I stared at him blankly for a while before shaking my head. "No. Just a routine one required by the college."

He stared at me for a long time, his expression slowly changing. It was as if he'd just thought of something or was confirming something in his head.

A short while later, he crouched down and inspected the cuts on my knees.

"Get in the car."

He drove me to a pharmacy, where he bought gauze and iodine before kneeling by the roadside to bandage my wounds. He wasn't exactly gentle, but he was very careful.

He spoke in a low voice. "I'll bring you both for the medical checkup this weekend."

I just kept my head down as I stared at my shoes, my vision turning blurry.

…

Leanna wouldn't stop crying and trembling on the day we got our results back.

She had stage-one bone cancer.

The doctor said, "Since it was discovered very early on, she has a very high chance of recovery."

Graham hugged her tightly, his hand trembling with fear as it finally dawned on him.

Leanna looked at me with tear-filled eyes. "Thank you, Gwyn… Just… Thank you so much…"

I shook my head and patted her on the back.

Graham looked past her shoulders, his gaze landing on me. It was deep and unreadable.

I recalled the day when Leanna died in my past life. It was raining very hard.

When he found out that she had left in disappointment after learning that we'd slept together, he stayed up all night before her grave in the thunderstorm. And when he got back, he smashed everything he could get his hands on before discovering my diary hidden away in a corner.

That was when he decided that I had deliberately told Leanna about our night together.

I tried explaining myself to him, but he wouldn't listen. He divorced me, made me leave without a penny to my name, and even blocked me from ever finding a job in the city.

Ultimately, I died alone in my rented apartment, with no one by my side.

But now, everything could still be salvaged.

Leanna would live.

Graham wouldn't blame me for her death.

And I would leave.

I felt a giant weight being lifted from my shoulders.

By the time we left the hospital, the sun was setting. Graham had gone to handle the paperwork, and I was keeping Leanna company as we waited in the hospital lobby.

She leaned against my arm and said quietly, "I'm scared, Gwyn."

I patted her arm. "You don't have to be scared. Gram is still there for you. He'll always be by your side."

…

Leanna was hospitalized after that.

The operation was a success, and the next step was chemotherapy.

Graham canceled his work appointments and kept her company at the hospital every day. Meanwhile, I was kept on my toes as I ran between college and the hospital while also preparing to further my studies abroad.

One day, while coming back from the hospital, Graham suddenly called out to me.

"Gwyn."

I stopped walking and turned to face Graham.

He handed me a set of keys.

"I bought a two-bedroom apartment near your campus. It's already been renovated. You… You should move in soon."

I was stunned for a moment. Then, I took the keys and nodded. "Okay."

There was no hesitation and no questions asked.

Graham just looked at me as if he was trying to gauge something from my facial expressions. However, I just calmly took the keys from him, pocketed them, and continued up the stairs.

I began packing the next day, throwing out or donating most of my belongings. I was planning to buy them new and start fresh in that apartment.

I also began coming home later and later every night. I was basically absent from the dinner table most of the time.

The belongings in my room began getting fewer and fewer. My bookshelf was emptied first, followed by my wardrobe, then my dressing table. There was only a single jewelry box sitting by itself in the center of the table.

I didn't get home till past 10:00 pm that day.

Graham was sitting on the living room couch in the dark, and I could see the faint glow of his cigarette.

"Why are you back so late?" he asked coldly. "Where have you been?"

I paused halfway through changing into my indoor slippers. "I was held up on campus."

Then, I walked past him to get to my room. Behind me, I could hear the sound of a glass clinking against the coffee table.

…

Leanna's chemotherapy was a huge success.

Three months later, the doctor said she was recovering nicely and could go home now with just regular visits to the hospital for follow-ups.

I was also there the day she was discharged. She'd lost a lot of weight, but she looked as energetic as ever.

While Graham went to take care of the paperwork, I stayed in Leanna's hospital room to keep her company.

"Gwyn," she suddenly said, "did you… have a fight with Gram?"

I hesitated.

She sighed and said, "He's been in a terrible mood lately. Even the people at work try to avoid him as much as possible."

I didn't say a thing.

She then held my hand and said, "I know that he asked you to move out. I already told him off for it. But don't worry. That place will always be your home as long as I'm around."

I squeezed her hands and said seriously, "Leanna, I'm an adult now. I should have my own life. Also, I'm in the midst of getting a student visa to further my studies abroad. I'm probably leaving next year."

Leanna's eyes widened in surprise. "Abroad? Where? For how long?"

"To Angland, for my master's. Maybe two or three years."

Her eyes turned red.

"Then… You must take good care of yourself out there. And make sure you tell us if anything happens, okay?"

"Got it."

Leanna wiped the tears from her eyes and suddenly began to laugh. "Maybe I should introduce one of my juniors to you. He's studying architecture and design, and he's a really good man."

I shook my head. "It's fine, Leanna. You don't have to."

"Why not? You're going to be lonely all by yourself."

I thought about it for a while and decided to tell her the truth. "Actually… I'm kind of talking to someone at the moment."

"What?" Leanna's eyes widened again.

"I met him while I was applying for my visa. We're planning to enroll in the same program."

Her eyes brightened up at once as she clapped her hands in delight. "That's wonderful news! I have to tell your brother about it! Your friend needs to pass all the tests first. We have to make sure that he isn't some scum."

"You don't have to—"

I wanted to stop her, but she'd already picked up her phone at that moment.

"Oh, he's back," she suddenly said, setting down her phone and looking at the door.

Graham pushed the door and walked in, holding a long itemized bill. His eyes darkened when he saw me holding hands with Leanna.

"What were you guys chatting about? What's with the smiles?"

He walked over and naturally pulled Leanna into his arms by her shoulders.

Leanna looked up at him, eyes bright with excitement. "I was just about to introduce someone to Gwyn. Guess what she said next!"

He glanced at me and said confidently, "She rejected it."

"That's right! She rejected me."

He just hummed indifferently. "She's always been very clingy with me since young and even refused to live in the dorm while attending college. Did you really think that she'd be interested in dating?"

Leanna grinned. "But she told me that she's already seeing someone! And she's also going abroad with him too!"